[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 101 (Thursday, May 25, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33846-33849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11179]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 50 and 52
[NRC-2022-0073]
Draft Regulatory Guide: Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive
Content of Application Methodology To Inform the Licensing Basis and
Content of Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for
Non-Light-Water Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft guide; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting
public
[[Page 33847]]
comment on its draft Regulatory Guide (DG-1404), ``Guidance for a
Technology-Inclusive Content of Application Methodology to Inform the
Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses,
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors.'' This DG
is a proposed new regulatory guide to provide guidance to assist
interested parties and prospective applicants for the development of
content for major portions of their safety analysis reports required in
applications for licenses, certifications, and approvals by the NRC to
ensure that non-light water reactor (non-LWR) facility designs using
the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP) process meet the minimum
requirements for construction permits, operating licenses, combined
licenses, manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design
certifications.
DATES: Submit comments by July 10, 2023. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website.
Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0073. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, telephone: 301-415-3229; email:
[email protected], or Robert Roche-Rivera, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, telephone: 301-415-8113; email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0073 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0073.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0073 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Additional Information
The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe
methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific
parts of the agency's regulations, to explain techniques that the staff
uses in evaluating specific issues or postulated events, and to
describe information that the staff needs in its review of applications
for permits and licenses.
The DG, entitled ``Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive Content of
Application Methodology to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of
Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-
Water Reactors,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG-
1404.
The staff is also issuing for public comment a draft regulatory
analysis. The staff developed a regulatory analysis to assess the value
of issuing or revising a regulatory guide (RG) as well as alternative
courses of action.
The NRC anticipates the submission of advanced power-reactor
applications within the next few years based on preapplication
engagement initiated by several prospective applicants. Because many of
these designs are non-LWRs, the NRC is developing technology-inclusive,
risk-informed, performance-based guidance to support the development of
major portions of safety analysis report content for these non-LWR
applications. The proposed guidance describes the development of major
portions of the safety analysis report using the industry-developed
guidance contained in Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 21-07, Revision 1,
``Technology Inclusive Guidance for Non-Light-Water Reactors, Safety
Analysis Report Content for Applicants Using the NEI 18-04
Methodology,'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML22060A190). The proposed guidance
will facilitate the development of non-LWR applications for
construction permits or operating licenses under part 50 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' or combined licenses,
manufacturing licenses, standard design approval, or design
certifications under 10 CFR part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and
Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants.'' The NRC is developing a rule to
amend parts 50 and 52 (RIN 3150-Al66). The
[[Page 33848]]
NRC staff notes this proposed RG may need to be updated to conform to
changes to 10 CFR parts 50 and 52, if any, adopted through that
rulemaking. Further, as of the date of this DG, the NRC is developing
an optional performance-based, technology-inclusive regulatory
framework for licensing nuclear power plants designated as 10 CFR part
53, ``Licensing and Regulation of Advanced Nuclear Reactors,'' (RIN
3150-AK31). The NRC intends to revise this proposed guidance as a part
of the ongoing rulemaking for 10 CFR part 53.
To standardize the development of content of a non-LWR application,
the staff focused on two activities: the Advanced Reactor Content of
Application Project (ARCAP) and the Technology-Inclusive Content of
Application Project (TICAP). The ARCAP is an NRC-led activity that is
intended to result in guidance for a complete non-LWR application for
review under 10 CFR part 50 or 10 CFR part 52, and which the staff
would update, as appropriate, pending the issuance of the 10 CFR part
50 and 10 CFR part 52 rulemaking previously mentioned in this notice,
or if the Commission issues a final 10 CFR part 53 rule.
The TICAP is an industry-led activity that is focused on providing
guidance on the appropriate scope and depth of information related to
the specific portions of the safety analysis report that describe the
fundamental safety functions of the design and document the safety
analysis of the facility using the LMP-based approach. The LMP-based
approach is described in RG 1.233, ``Guidance for a Technology-
Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology to Inform
the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses,
Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light-Water Reactors,'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20091L698).
The ARCAP draft interim staff guidance (ISG) titled ``Review of
Risk-Informed, Technology-Inclusive Advanced Reactor Applications--
Roadmap'' (ARCAP Roadmap ISG) provides a general overview of the
information that should be included in a non-LWR application. The ARCAP
Roadmap ISG also provides a review roadmap for the NRC staff with the
principal purpose of ensuring consistency, quality, and uniformity of
NRC staff reviews. The ARCAP Roadmap ISG includes references to eight
other ARCAP draft ISGs that are the subject of separate Federal
Register notices (FRNs) and the TICAP DG that is the subject of this
FRN, requesting comment on these guidance documents. Information
regarding the eight other ARCAP draft ISGs and the TICAP DG can be
found in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this FRN.
As noted in the Federal Register on December 9, 2022 (87 FR 75671),
this document is being published in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of
the Federal Register to comply with publication requirements under 1
CFR chapter I.
III. Availability of Documents
The table in this notice provides the document description, ADAMS
accession number, and, if appropriate, the docket identification number
referencing the request for public comment on supporting documents
associated with the document that is the subject of this FRN.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regulations.gov docket ID
Document description ADAMS accession No. No.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DG-1404, ``Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive ML22076A003 NRC-2022-0073.
Content of Application Methodology to Inform the
Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for
Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Non-
Light-Water Reactors.''.
Regulatory Analysis for DG-1404.................. ML22076A002 NRC-2022-0073.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-01 ML22048B546 NRC-2022-0074.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project, `Review of Risk-Informed, Technology
Inclusive Advanced Reactor Applications--
Roadmap.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-02, ML22048B541 NRC-2022-0075.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project Chapter 2, `Site Information.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-03, ML22048B543 NRC-2022-0076.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project Chapter 9, `Control of Routine Plant
Radioactive Effluents, Plant Contamination and
Solid Waste.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-04, ML22048B544 NRC-2022-0077.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project Chapter 10, `Control of Occupational
Dose.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-05, ML22048B542 NRC-2022-0078.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project Chapter 11, `Organization and Human-
System Considerations.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-06, ML22048B545 NRC-2022-0079.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project Chapter 12, `Post-Construction
Inspection, Testing, and Analysis Program.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-07, ML22048B549 NRC-2022-0080.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project, `Risk-informed Inservice Inspection/
Inservice Testing.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-08, ML22048B548 NRC-2022-0081.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project, `Risk-Informed Technical
Specifications.' ''.
Draft Interim Staff Guidance DANU-ISG-2022-09, ML22048B547 NRC-2022-0082.
``Advanced Reactor Content of Application
Project, `Risk-informed Performance-based Fire
Protection Program (for Operations).' ''.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and Issue Finality
DG-1404, if finalized, would not constitute backfitting as defined
in 10 CFR 50.109, ``Backfitting,'' and as described in Management
Directive (MD) 8.4, ``Management of Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue
Finality, and Information Requests''; constitute forward fitting as
that term is defined and described in MD 8.4; or affect the issue
finality of any approval issued under 10 CFR part 52. The guidance
would not apply to any current licensees or applicants or existing or
requested approvals under 10 CFR part 52, and therefore its issuance
cannot be a backfit or forward fit or affect issue finality. Further,
as explained in DG-1404, applicants and licensees would not be required
to comply with the positions set forth in DG-1404.
V. Submitting Suggestions for Improvement of Regulatory Guides
A member of the public may, at any time, submit suggestions to the
NRC for improvement of existing RGs or for the development of new RGs.
Suggestions can be submitted on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/contactus.html.
Suggestions will be considered in future updates and
[[Page 33849]]
enhancements to the ``Regulatory Guide'' series.
Dated: May 22, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meraj Rahimi,
Chief, Regulatory Guide and Programs Management Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2023-11179 Filed 5-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P